funkgod Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) I was just reading a post where happy jack deard the word " Amstrad" i then got memories of all sorts of tac from the 80s, K-tel, Ronco, Commodore, Bush tv game ( blick blick ) binatone where they really did manage to bin all the tone. some tac here..... [url="http://www.tvfilmprops.co.uk/pages/154/The-Seventies/"]http://www.tvfilmpro.../The-Seventies/[/url] I was thinking how much recording equipment had changed from the 70s 80s. with not much money then i was trying out all sorts of ways to get my ideas down. my first was a bush tape recorder with a mic the, oblong hand held one, i was then given an old phillips 4 track reel to reel which did me quite well, i still have some of the tapes i then got an AKAI 4000D reel to reel which then i thought looked great because it stood up and looked pro. then a fostex 8 track reel to reel totally bypassing the portastudio as i had lent a friends and never liked the quality once you started bouncing tracks, but found it a handy all in one. my biggest breakthrough to quality came when i got my Tascam MSR 16s 16 track which i still have and i love it, in the time i have had the tascam MSR, digi recorders have come and gone Fostex DMT8 ETC Then came my software phase starting with Cubase, as much as i tried and worked at it i could not get the sound of my bass right on cubase it always sounded compressed to hell and as if the frequency range was cut off at both ends and the mix always sounded cluttered then there was the crashing mid track and freezing sound card probs and the bit i hated the most was having to change screens all the time just to change something small, i now only use cubase as a drum editor and the score is very handy, I then went to Protools 001 then 002 then just gave up as was having another set of probs It was only when i got my Mackie D8B and HDR24 that i really felt at home and then it became a pleasure to get my ideas down, its such a great bit of kit, the sound is stunning and im again in love. I still have my Tascam MSR16s its great for getting ideas down fast then if any good al then do it on the mackie, Does anyone else use a Mackie D8B ? ? it was a long road and a great learning curve its amazing how much you learn and then realise how much time you have spent getting there, From this... [attachment=140277:tape.jpeg] to this... [attachment=140310:phill reel.jpeg] and the nice looking AKAI [attachment=140311:Akai_4000d.JPG] Fostex R8 [attachment=140312:r8.jpg] to what i have ended up with.. [attachment=140273:IMG_4303.jpg] [attachment=140274:IMG_4304.jpg] [attachment=140275:IMG_4305.jpg] Edited July 31, 2013 by funkgod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Savage Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 From one of these: to this: (via a WHOLE bunch of other stuff) in about twelve years. Not bad going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkgod Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 That leopard skin stool is real man cave stuff, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Zoom. Just Zoom. I started with an H4, graduated to an H2 (I like simplicity), when that got nicked I bought another H2. For studio use, the R16 is almost unbeatable. Video? I had a Q3, then a Q3HD. Gave up on them when Digital SLRs recently overtook them in terms of bangs per buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Savage Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 [quote name='funkgod' timestamp='1375277132' post='2159132'] That leopard skin stool is real man cave stuff, [/quote] Matches the sofa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 In the 1960s: [attachment=140285:stellaphone.jpg] In the early 1970s: [attachment=140286:bushTP66.jpg] In the late 1970s: [attachment=140287:akai4000ds.jpg] Which was great because it had 'sound-on-sound' for bouncing tracks, though it quickly got noisy. Then a long gap until about 2010 and a big jump forward to a 16-channel DAW set up. All fun to play with though somewhat depressing to realise that,even after all those years, my talent still remains way behind the capabilities of the technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumps Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I had one of these But the tape cover was broken off & certain buttons caused a huge "nerrrrrrrrrgggg" noise if you pressed them in the wrong way. To use it properly you needed the touch of a safe cracking bomb disposal expert who could play the flute. happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Tascam Porta 02 started me off. Spent many happy hours as a teenager with leads trailing all over my bedroom, bouncing tracks down to my hifi and using a Korg multieffects unit for all my EQ/processing. Loved it. Now I use Ableton with a novation interface and a Rode M3 condensor mic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I was in a band in Wales in 1984 and they got a Fostex X-15. It worked ok. My first studio kit was a Fostex X-26 4-trk cassette recorder, an Alesis HR16 drum computer, and a Yamaha SPX-50D rack effects, that was about 1990. I used it day and night, brilliant fun. This is what it sounded like [url="http://soundcloud.com/silddx/no-feet-allowed-1992"]http://soundcloud.com/silddx/no-feet-allowed-1992[/url] I had two Yamaha 8-trk MT8X over a few years in the late '90s, Lexicon effects, HR-16 and then a SR-16. Then a Zoom MR8 Then a Tascam 2488 MkII until a couple of years ago. Now a MacBook Pro with Logic9 (I had Reaper before that), and a Focusrite Saffire Pro24 DSP, also a POD X3 LIVE and a Novation Impulse controller keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) Crikey.... Started with any old tape deck, then two tape decks to 'overdub', moved very very quickly from there to a project studio (didnt own it, learnt and worked in it), That was a Studiomaster 24:16:2 desk with a Fostex G16 and a bit of outboard, couple of C414s and a bunch of other mics. Then on to a larger studio where people with recording contracts would turn up and do pre-production and so on. That was all ADAT - we hated it day to day, but the fact was if it didnt chew the tapes up you got no real reduction in quality once it was down regardless of how many times you played it when tracking and mixing - and a bespoke 24:8:2 fully balanced desk that we built ourselves(!) over about 2 and a half months. Great desk, good times, I helped them build their studio 2 in the old pig shed too, which was a huge education. Live room in the big studio was a huge converted barn, beautiful sounding room, and no treatment at all, just the shape was good for sound. Oh and there was some time with a Fostex DMT8 in there, got an awful lot out of that kit, Akai DR16s for a bit. In the studio now its HD24s (two of them in the studio) which do work well, a big ole Mackie 32:8 which is just a glorified monitor mix (nothing goes through those mic-pres), a bunch of tasty mics and so on. Hardly much outboard though, its all mixed on the protools rig on a grunty Mac. At home its a laptop and an RME UCX interface running Reaper. Still working up to a stellar Audient ASP008 so I have ten great mic pres for guerilla tracking drums with. Not cheap though Edited July 31, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 My dad had a big old reel-to-reel suitcase-type machine, the make of which I don’t know. I recall it had some sort of sound-on-sound overdubbing facility, but was more interesting to me was that I could plug my Avon Les Paul copy into the mic input and get a great Fripp-like sound. I’d been led to experiment having read that Fripp used a pair of Revoxes. Hopefully they didn’t start belching smoke like my dad’s machine eventually did… (sorry dad). We then had a Chinon cassette deck – I’ve unsuccessfully scoured the web for evidence of this machine but it was fantastic: it had four faders for mic and line stereo inputs which could be used simultaneously, which opened up the possibility of real overdubbing. I would record something, pop the cassette in another machine and record its output on the line inputs while adding more stuff through the mic inputs! As a young adult I then splashed out on a used Dokorder 4-track which had been modified to use 10.5” reels – which the motor struggled with, so FF and REW needed manual encouragement J the machine came to a sticky end after I lent it to a local theatre company who managed to destroy it. Then came this familiar fellow, with which I got way better results than with the Dokorder: Then things got serious with this little lot: I would record a timecode on the Fostex and sync it with the Atari. Then I could do a live bounce to stereo with MIDI drums and keyboards, audio from the other tracks on the Fostex, usually with live guitar and/or vocals mixed in too! Then came a huge sabbatical… now back in the fold but it’s all digital and non-nostalgic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 [quote name='fumps' timestamp='1375278644' post='2159173'] I had one of these But the tape cover was broken off & certain buttons caused a huge "nerrrrrrrrrgggg" noise if you pressed them in the wrong way. To use it properly you needed the touch of a safe cracking bomb disposal expert who could play the flute. happy days [/quote] I still have an older version of that, mine's an x-2 I think, will get a photo later. I thought I'd made it when i started using that thing, after all the weird tape bouncing we did before that. Even more so when i used the tape outs from the back into my Studiomaster 16-2 Diamond (also still got it) using outboard effects on sends and returns. I have pictures of all my crap somewhere, and it only started sounding alright this year, when I got a focusrite saffire pro24 DSP, and started using reaper instead of cubase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) started off borrowing a mate's Tascam Porta 02, then one of these: [font=Helvetica][size=3][url="http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/paul_510/media/recorder_zps802c49b7.png.html"][/url][/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]through Cubase VST with a pair of 20 bit Echo Layla interfaces in my desktop machine.[/size][/font] [url="http://www.pcrecording.com/laylarev.htm"]http://www.pcrecordi...om/laylarev.htm[/url] [font=Helvetica][size=3]Nowadays it's Protools 10 and an MBox 2.[/size][/font] [font=Helvetica][size=3]At some point I had a lovely Tascam 34 tape machine that was lovely, but a pain in the arse to maintain.[/size][/font] [URL=http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/paul_510/media/Tascam_34B_1_zpsc2608c8a.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd471/paul_510/Tascam_34B_1_zpsc2608c8a.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Edited July 31, 2013 by paul_5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu_g Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 i remember when i first started playing at my mates house through there stereo which i think involved plugging into an input then putting the casstte player to record then hearing our our marlins crackle to life his marlin superstrat and my marlin bass it really was terrible then later recording our band practices through a mono cassette player,i had an ampeg cab and a selmer pa valve head i didnt think much of it at the time but when i listened back to the tapes it sounded pretty good sadly i left the selmer at the rehearsal space and lost the tapes my first taste of the high life was when my friend met a keyboard player with a fostex 4 track and to top it all he had a little bar in his house i cant remember what we recorded was a bit soft rock for my liking but the beer was good my only recording stuff i personally owned was a roland 840ex zip disc 8 track and now im using my computer with an emu 0404 which i have to say is nice and easy to use so far although ive not mastered the midi keyboard and adding drums sadly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I had a Zoom MRS that you could write the finished tracks straight to an onboard CD writer for a while but never fully mastered it, sold on eBay and they don't make them any more. Took a while to get the hang of but it seemed to do a job. A lot of buttons on it though from what I recall... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I had a Fostex R8 now I use either a Tascam DP01 or Cubase SE depending on my will to live! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkgod Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1375277375' post='2159138'] Zoom. Just Zoom. I started with an H4, graduated to an H2 (I like simplicity), when that got nicked I bought another H2. For studio use, the R16 is almost unbeatable. Video? I had a Q3, then a Q3HD. Gave up on them when Digital SLRs recently overtook them in terms of bangs per buck. [/quote] Im not sure if there is but if not i think there should be a whole thread open to the discussion on camcorders. I for one am confused by it all, i have been told so many things about which is the best to get to record bands with stage lighting the best to get for sound ETC.. im now led to believe the best one to get is one with an internal hard drive and not memory ?... so what are the best ones to get within a couple of budget categories ??? and are there any with L+R jack sockets to att 2 mics so i can have them wide across a room ? worthy of a thread im sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I just have a Sony Mini Disk recorder. That's complicated enough for me. That other stuff just has too many knobs! Going back in time: Did anyone shop in Laskeys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Rocket Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I had a foster x-15 & Yamaha cx5m music computer then fostex 160 & Atari STE running cubase I remember recording rehearsals / gigs by setting up a stereo casstte deck, the fostex160 or my Sony dat recorder, a mixer or pair of mic preamps and a pair of realistic PZMs mics from tandy converted to give a balanced output. I currently use a zoom h1, which is much less hassle & probably one of my favourite things I have ever owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ras52 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 "In the field" I had - still have - a Walkman Pro, now I use a Yamaha Pocketrax. In between I also had an Aiwa portable DAT and a Sony Minidisc recording Walkman (probably still have that too... time for a clear-out, methinks!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 (edited) I kind of missed out my Zoom H4n, oops! I use it with a pair of Line Audio CM3 SDCs (unbelievably brilliant mics, immensely recommended, unbeatable for the outlay in fact) in 4 channel mode for capturing rehearsals. Here are a couple of examples of what it sounds like (and yes I have done some 'mixing' of the 4 channels in Reaper, but still no close mics, this is what was happening in the room):- [url="https://soundcloud.com/mistersuperjuice/a-bit-of-funk-in-9"]https://soundcloud.c...it-of-funk-in-9[/url] [url="https://soundcloud.com/mistersuperjuice/bring-that-funk-on-up"]https://soundcloud.c...that-funk-on-up[/url] And a big ole jam for the horns to figure some stuff out:- https://soundcloud.com/mistersuperjuice/what-it-is-and-what-it-aint Perfectly good as a documentary tool, in fact it sounds better than some project studio stuff I have heard (esp from back in the 90's!) IMO.... Edited August 1, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefrash Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I cringe when I think of my first recordings! all my stuff was directly into the mic input of my dads bog standard home pc through a zoom 506 pedal and a karaoke machine mic for vocals! It couldnt record anymore than 20 seconds at a time or else it would jutter to a halt and the latency was really bad so what I had to do was record a bit then drag it back. Me and a few mates recorded some pretty complicated stuff that way when I think about it! My recording set up is very similiar now just slightly upgraded! I really wish I still had some of those things I recorded! Would be really interesting to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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